Clothes dryers



Jan. 5, 1970 R ,-PATR.K" 3,487,556

CLOTHES DRYERS Filed March 27, 1968 Fig.|.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Russell L. Patrick 2%MM Jan. 6, 1970 R. L. PATRICK CLOTHES DRYERS Filed March 27, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENroR Russell L. Patrick United States Patent O 3,487,556 CLOTHES DRYERS Russell L. Patrick, Jamestown, N.Y., assignor to Blackstone Corporation, a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 27, 1968, Ser. No. 716,443 Int. Cl. F26b 11/04 U.S. Cl. 34-133 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clothes dryer is provided in which the rotary dryer drum is carried in an ovoid duct at each end which communicate with the drum interior and furnish the entire support for the drum.

This invention relates to clothes dryers and particularly to a clothes dryer in which the drum is supported on ovoid ducts at each end supported on a main frame.

Clothes dryers for household use and the like have generally consisted of a drum, open at each end, receiving hot drying air through a duct connected to one end and discharging air through the opposite end or through perfor ate sidewalls to acollector. The drum is usually rotated by a motor which also drives a blower fan to force drying air through the drum. The rotary drum is supported in a variety of ways of various complexity. In some cases, the drum is supported on rollers mounted on a supporting frame. In other cases, the drum is supported on flanges on the front and intermediate panels. In all cases, the drum is connected to duct work at front and rear for delivering drying air and removing spent air and is generally supported by an intermediate Wall or frame to provide c1ear`- ance for the duct work.

I have invented a structure which eliminates these complex support and duct arrangements of the prior art. I provide a structure in which the ducts themselves act as the bearing support for the rotating drum. This eliminates the need for intermediate wall or frame members and simplifies access to the drum and drum bearing.

In a clothes dryer having a frame, la rotatable drum in said frame having axial access openings and drive meanS for rotating said drum and a blower means, I preferably provide a pair of identical ovoid ducts, one at each end of said drum, 4said ducts having two spaced openings in the sidewall, one of said openings and the drum being provided with cooperating bearing means, said other openings being connected one to said blower means and the other to atmosphere and means on the frame engaging each said duct to hold it in position supporting said drum. Preferably each duct and the drum are provided with axial anges, one tting within the other and separated by an anti-friction means, which form the bearing means. The ducts are preferably arranged in mirror image relation at opposite ends of the drum. Preferably the drum bearing opening in the duct is at the large end of the ovoid and the small end is directed diagonally downwardly toward a lower corner of the frame.

In the foregoing general description I have set out certain objects, purposes and advantages of my invention Other objects, purposes andA advantages will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of ing to my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the dryer of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged isometric view of one of the ovoid ducts of the dryer of FIGURE 1.

a dryer accord- 3,487,556 Patented Jan. 6, 1970 Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a dryer drum 10 having axially extending bearing flanges 11 surrounding access openings 12 at each end. An ovoid duct 13 at each end of drum 10 is provided with a pair of spaced openings 14 and 15. The opening 14 at the large end of the ovoid is provided with an axial extending flange 16 which supports the drum 10 through an anti-friction member 17 between flanges 16 and flanges 11 on the drum. The other opening 15 of one duct is connected to a blower of usual design (not shown) and the other opening 15 of the other duct is open to atmosphere. Each of the ducts 13 is supported on identical end frames 20 of the dryer frame 21. The drum is rotated by a belt 22 engaging ange 23 on the drum and driven by a motor of the usual design, not shown.

The advantages of my invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art of dryer manufacture. The dryer according to my invention uses identical tooling to produce the ducts for each end of the drum. The drum is supported directly by the ducts, free of intermediate walls or framing and the dryer is operational without the outer shell being a necessary part of the support. These features and others materially simplify the structure of my invention, reduce its cost and significantly simplify the manufacture and assembly.

While I have illustrated and described a presently preferred embodiment of my invention in the foregoing specication, it will be obvious that the invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a clothes dryer having a frame, a rotatable drum in said frame having axial access openings through one of which clothes are inserted into the drum interior for drying, and drive means for rotating said drum and a blower means, the improvement comprising a pair of identical elongated ducts, one at each end of said drum, each of said ducts having two spaced openings in one sidewall, one of said openings and the drum being provided with cooperating bearing means, said other openings being connected one to said blower means and the other to atmosphere, a third opening in one of said ducts opposite said one opening provided with cooperating bearing means through which clothes may be inserted into the drum, and means on the frame engaging each said duct to hold it in position supporting said drum.

2. In a clothes dryer as claimed in claim 1 wherein the ducts are ovoid in shape.

3. In a clothes dryer as claimed in claim 2 wherein the ducts are arranged in mirror image positions.

4. A clothes dryer as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of the openings in the drum and the ducts are surrounded by an axial intertting bearing ilange rotatably supporting the drum on the ducts.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,543,579 2/1951 Kauffmann 34-133 2,751,688 6/1956 Douglas 34-133 X 2,830,385 4/1958 Smith 34-130 X 2,861,355 11/1958 Douglas 34-133 X 3,304,626 2/ 1967 Leckner 34-130 X LLOYD L. KING, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 34-135 

